It is noteworthy that it required a miracle for many of the greatest characters in the Bible to be born. Their mothers had a problem with barrenness. Consider Sarah and the birth of Isaac; or Rebecca and the birth of Esau and Jacob; or Rachel and the birth of Joseph and Benjamin; or Hannah and the birth of Samuel; or Elizabeth and the birth of John the Baptist. Barrenness is a form of lameness and disability. Whenever the Lord acts to fulfill a purpose of His, He makes the circumstances difficult; but whenever He plans something exceptional, He makes the situation impossible. Then when His purpose is fulfilled, in spite of the impossibility, all the glory goes to Him.